At first glance, a preseason contest with Division III Messiah College doesn’t seem like much of one for the Terrapins women’s basketball team.
Coach Brenda Frese, however, knows better than to write her team’s first exhibition game off as a meaningless one. When the Terps take on the Falcons at Comcast Center tonight, the significance of the game will go far deeper than what will almost assuredly be a lopsided final score.
“Exhibitions are used just for that: to be able to prepare you for upcoming games and the upcoming season,” Frese said. “We’re going to utilize it for our rotations and where we see people as they fit.”
Though the Terps, ranked No. 11 in the AP preseason poll, have been practicing together for more than three weeks, tonight’s matchup with the Falcons will give the team its first chance to take what it’s worked on in the offseason and apply it in a game situation.
Messiah enters the season as the favorite in the Commonwealth Conference, but the Division III squad should provide a relatively easy test for the Terps. The Terps likely won’t face much pressure from the Falcons, offering the hosts ample opportunities to gain valuable on-court experience.
“You don’t have the nerves and jitters,” Frese said. “There’s a lot of ways to gauge where we’re at and see what we need to work on.”
Tonight’s game won’t have any long-term effects on the Terps’ season, which begins Nov. 11 against Loyola, but the game holds merit for the team nonetheless. More than seven months removed from their last official competition, a return to the court tonight will go a long way in preparing the Terps for when the score overhead does matter.
“We’re just looking to get comfortable on the floor,” forward Alyssa Thomas said. “It’s a good way to get our nerves out before the actual first game and just get a feel for each other in a game setting.”
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